1.How Long Will Students Have to Unpack in the Morning, and What Does Unpack Entail?
Systems
UNPACKING
1.How long will students have to unpack in the morning, and what does “unpack” entail?
MY CLASSROOM
I give my students five minutes to unpack, but as they are unpacking I positively reinforce students who are unpacking quickly. As soon as I opened the classroom door (I had to pick my kids up in the gym every morning), the timer would start. I would say good morning to each student as they passed through the doorway. The students were expected to sharpen their pencils, take their stuff out of their backpacks (everything for the entire day—except money for snacks at recess), hang up their backpacks, turn in brain busters, turn in their library books, take their homework out of their folders, and start their daily review. On Mondays, they also had to select new team positions, turn in their independent work, and put new independent work into their folders.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
2.What do students do as soon as they finish unpacking?
MY CLASSROOM
My students begin working on their daily IOWA review (the IOWA is the 3rd grade standardized test in Louisiana). It consists of two sentences that they must edit and rewrite, one language question (either to come up with a “juicy adjective” to fit in a sentence or to alphabetize words), an analogy, a science or social studies question, two math word problems, and the Math Problem of the Day. One of the most important things you can do to ensure an effective and efficient learning environment is to put up the daily work before the students arrive. I’m dead serious about this one. The problems must be ready for them. Some students will unpack extraordinarily quickly (which you want them to do!) Also, you need to be free to monitor what is going on while kids are moving freely about the classroom. This situation could spiral into chaos. More importantly, you want to positively reinforce individuals who are meeting your expectations.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
3.What do you do if a student doesn’t finish unpacking in time?
MY CLASSROOM
I give them the first consequence on my conduct chart for not following directions.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
4.What if you give a child a consequence and they start to explain what happened (which is synonymous with talking back)?
MY CLASSROOM
When I am teaching my rules and consequences, I also teach the students not to talk back immediately when they receive a consequence. If they have something to explain, they are expected to raise their hands. Most times, students are given the opportunity to defend themselves, but I maintain control in the situation. I then apologize to the class for wasting their learning time. This point is critical. In your classroom, you want it to be cool to be smart and work hard in. You want the other students to be annoyed by misbehavior. Then the misbehaving students will feel pressure to meet the behavioral expectations.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
5.What if you give a student a second consequence and they still talk back?
MY CLASSROOM
At this point I would take the student outside to defuse the situation. I would then talk to them about the decisions they are making for themselves. I would help them realize that they can make decisions that are going to bring them up (positive decisions) and decisions that are going to bring them down (negative decisions).
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
6.How do you record consequences?
MY CLASSROOM
I keep my students’ weekly progress reports on a clipboard. At the back of the clipboard, I keep yellow Post-It notes. When a student receives a warning, I ask the student to put a sticky note on top of their progress report. When they receive the next consequence (which is time out as well as the loss of a weekly point), I return the sticky note to the back of the clipboard and take a point away. I also make note of the specific behavior on the conduct sheet so the parent/guardian is aware of the behavior at the end of the week. Regardless of what your method for keeping track of discipline looks like, keep the following questions in mind:
- How will conduct grades be communicated to parents/guardians?
- How will specific behaviors be communicated to parents/guardians?
- How will a consequence be recorded consistently if the misbehavior takes place outside the classroom (e.g. at lunch, recess, line, etc.)?
- How will students know what consequence they are on?
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
7.Where will students put their backpacks?
MY CLASSROOM
In my classroom, I’m fortunate that my students have hooks to hang their backpacks. If you don’t have something similar, you might consider large Tupperware bins (maybe five backpacks per bin). However, I do not recommend having the students keep their backpacks with them at their desks. The fewer distractions, the better! If you do allow them to keep their backpacks at their desks, you should establish clear expectations about what they are and are not allowed to do with them. Are they allowed to touch them during a lesson? When are they allowed to retrieve something out of them?
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
8.What happens if a student forgets to take something out of their backpack and needs it later in the day?
MY CLASSROOM
I allow them to get the item if it’s necessary for learning (e.g. homework or library books), and I take five minute off their recess time (if they take time away from their learning time, I take time away from their recess time). Each student has a file folder in the back of the classroom. If they owe me recess, I file the folder in the front of the classroom with a sticky note inside indicating why they owe me recess and for how long. As I am writing in the folder, I apologize to the rest of the class for wasting their learning time.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
9.What are students allowed to have at their desks and in their pockets?
MY CLASSROOM
My students are not allowed to have anything in their pockets. I find that they play with it throughout the day, which distracts the students around them. If they have toys or money in their pockets, I confiscate it and put it in my desk for one week. I have manilla envelopes with the days of the week listed on them, and the object goes into the appropriate envelope. At the end of one week, they are allowed to ask for the object as they are lining up to leave for the school day. I allow students to keep nothing but pens, pencils, textbooks, folders, composition books and a library book in their desks (never loose papers).
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
10.What do you do if a student finishes their daily work before the next activity?
MY CLASSROOM
A couple of students will finish the daily work before it’s time for the next activity. When they finish, they take out their Independent folders and begin their independent work. Independent work consists of five rows of handwriting and a 50-word paragraph about the daily topic. The assignment is on a half sheet of paper that they pick up at the beginning of the week. I hold students accountable for this work by grading it once a week. When students finish their independent work, they raise their hand with their pinky raised (this is an “I” in sign language). This signal alerts the monitor that s/he needs to check the finished person’s independent work. If the work is finished, the student is free to go to the optional activity of their choice (optional activities include puzzles, flashcards, math games, computer time, etc.)
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
11.How will students be held accountable for their daily work?
MY CLASSROOM
I walk around the classroom and grade their daily work while they are working on their independent work. I ask them to give themselves a grade based on their effort and level of completion. This process reinforces that hard word leads to good grades. It also empowers the students to reflect on their own work.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
LINING UP
12.How will students line up?
MY CLASSROOM
I wait for the entire class to sit in their active listening position (eyes on speaker, hands folded, and sitting up straight) before I will call anyone to line up. Then I call the students to line up by their numbers on the roster (i.e. 1-5 please line up; 6-10 line up; etc.)
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
13.What if students talk while lining up or waiting in line?
MY CLASSROOM
I give them a consequence for talking at inappropriate times. If students are waiting in line for a while, I will quiz them with math facts (they answer with their fingers) or spelling words (I call on students individually).
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
14.Is walking in line properly really a big deal?
MY CLASSROOM
When I first started teaching, I felt like my school was too rigid and demeaning toward students. I felt like the students were never free to express themselves or develop independent decision-making. I viewed walking in line as a chance for students to relax and take a break from the academic rigor of the classroom. As long as the students reached their destination quickly, it didn’t matter to me what they did while they got there. However, students have a completely different view of walking in line. They viewed me as a weak authority figure because I didn’t enforce the expectations of the school and their previous teachers. From their perspective, my authority was compromised. Now, I set high expectations for walking in line and give the students reasons why they need to follow the standards. I explain that they need to stay quiet so they do not disrupt other classes’ learning time. They walk in the center of the hall with one hand on their lip to remind them to stay quiet (this is the school’s expectation) and their other hand behind their back or in their pocket so they do not touch the bulletin boards.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
15.What if students accidentally bump someone in line? How do they apologize if they aren’t allowed to talk?
MY CLASSROOM
During community meetings I teach students how to apologize in sign language. I also teach them how to say “thank you” and “you’re welcome.”
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
16.How do students move around the classroom?
MY CLASSROOM
If students are moving from their desks to the floor, I dismiss them one team at a time. If they are on the floor and they need to return to their desks, I first hold up one finger. This signal means get ready. When I hold up two fingers, they stand. Finally, three fingers means they may move. If a student moves on the wrong command, I simply wait for them to realize and correct their mistake. Students who run or run and slide on the floor receive immediate consequences.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
MATERIALS
17.How do you collect supplies on the first day of school? What do you do with them?
MY CLASSROOM
My school requires students to bring notebook paper, crayons, composition books, pencils, paper towels, tissues, scissors, rulers, glue, and folders. On the first day of school, while the students are working silently on a survey, I collect each child’s supplies individually and place them in a grocery or garbage bag (depending on how many supplies they have). I label the bag with the students’ name and move on to the next student. I do not check to see if they brought all their supplies at this time. After school, I go back to the supplies—this time with a clipboard in hand. I put a checkmark under each item that they brought. That night, I call families who did not bring in all their supplies. By the end of the year, you will run out if you don’t ask the families to bring in all their supplies in the beginning. Also, you need to enforce the expectation that families must support the educational process. I put all the notebook paper together in one spot, as well as the paper towels, and tissues. I divide the scissors, crayons, glue, and rulers into five Tupperware containers (one for each cooperative learning group). The students share these supplies all year, regardless of whether the supplies are labeled with their names. I keep all folders and composition books and label them with computer labels that include the student’s name and the subject. I explain to students that we are a community of sharers.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
18.How should folders and composition books be used?
MY CLASSROOM
Each student has two folders: one for homework and one for independent work. As I collect homework in the morning, I check to make sure that the folders have been cleaned out. My students use composition books for their Juicy Journals, as well as their spelling homework. Several students don’t have access to notebook paper at home, so they do their spelling homework in a composition book. The rest of the homework is reading and worksheets. I specify that students conserve paper by writing on the front and back of each page and that they do not draw in their composition books at all. I also require them to write on consecutive pages. Trust me when I say that students will try to get away with anything if you don’t specify what they can’t do.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
19.What about the pencil problem?
MY CLASSROOM
My students are only allowed to sharpen their pencils while they are unpacking and packing. In the morning, they are expected to sharpen as many pencils as they will need for the entire day. If they need a pencil during the day, they may either borrow or buy one (I sell them for $0.10). They can only ask for a pencil from someone else using sign language. I only let students complete their work in pencil or erasable pen. The only time they use pen is when they check their work during the review of daily work. I never let students use distracting pencils or pens (things with feathers or rattles) that the librarian sells.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
MISCELLANEOUS
20.How do students get your attention?
MY CLASSROOM
Students will try to get my attention by calling out my name. I explain to them during the first community meeting that we have too many people in a very small space for them to call out my name. I emphasize that if they ever see me at the grocery store or on the street, they are free to shout my name as loudly as they would like. When students mistakenly call out my name, I say firmly, “That is not how you get my attention.” Then I attend to a student who does have their hand raised and return to the first student once their hand is raised. Elementary school students tend to ask lots of questions throughout the day. It’s not possible to call on every student all the time, so if they need to go to the restroom, they make the sign language signal for restroom. If they need a tissue, they cover their nose and raise their hand. With these signals, I can acknowledge students and give them permission to move around the classroom without disrupting learning.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
21.How do you get students’ attention?
MY CLASSROOM
Because I am very strict about my students not talking in line, during independent work times, or returning from recess, I incorporate a lot of group work into the day to give students the opportunity to develop their communication skills. When students are working with partners or groups, I regain their attention through call and response. Here are some examples:
TEACHER: Shave and a hair cut.
STUDENTS: Two bits.
TEACHER: Ready, Eddy?
STUDENTS: Sure am, Sam.
As soon as the response is complete, students must be absolutely silent. Students who make any noise at all (even a laugh) receive a conduct mark. This system assures that no matter how involved students get with their groups, I can regain their full attention within a matter of seconds in order to give them amended instructions or a time check.
YOUR CLASSROOM
______
______
22.How can you structure academic subjects without becoming repetitive and boring?
MY CLASSROOM
In my experience, students really appreciate a set structure for academic subjects. They have a sense of security and certainty because they always know what is coming next, and they are more likely to be successful because they know what is expected of them. Here is an example of how I structure my math block:
12:25-12:30 Mad Math Minute
Students enter the classroom without talking, and I begin quizzing them verbally on basic facts. As the students are calling out the answer in unison, I pass out a half sheet of paper with 27 basic fact math problems on it. Students write their names on the back of the sheet. When I say begin, the students flip over their papers and answer as many questions as they can in a minute. When the time is called, the students pass their papers clockwise and begin reading the problems and answers aloud.